


(Easter, 1976)

by seulgina



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Developing Friendships, Easter, F/M, Hogwarts Fifth Year, O.W.L.s | Ordinary Wizarding Levels, Pre-James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Quidditch, Romance, Unresolved Emotional Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-09
Updated: 2020-12-09
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:54:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,803
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27982641
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seulgina/pseuds/seulgina
Summary: "James..." said Lily, barely maintaining her eyes open, "we're friends, right?"James's heart skipped a beat the instant she said his name. Dammit. He hesitated for a moment and replied: "If you say so."Lily completely closed her eyes this time, her speech slurring as she spoke. "You're a complete idiot and a coward, James Potter."Then she fell asleep, just like that.***It’s two weeks after the infamous O.W.L. incident, and Gryffindor won the quidditch match. James and Lily notice something is off about each other.
Relationships: Alice Longbottom/Frank Longbottom, James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Marlene McKinnon & Lily Evans Potter, Remus Lupin & James Potter, Remus Lupin & Lily Evans Potter, Sirius Black & James Potter
Comments: 2
Kudos: 18





	(Easter, 1976)

_I. I never really found interest in quidditch._

Lily Evans was not looking forward to the upcoming quidditch match.

Why would she be? Of course, she was glad that the O.W.L. was over, and there was Easter break after the match, and that was about it. She just never really found interest in quidditch, but at least she didn’t hate it—until now. As for current situations, it was safe to say that she _dreaded_ it, because quidditch reminded her of James Potter, and James Potter reminded her of Severus Snape, who reminded her of those awful endless fights…

It’s been a few weeks since The Incident, as her friends will call it, and to be quite honest, the prefect did not expect anything from both boys. She was now fine with ignoring Severus, an action she would’ve performed with guilt even just a month ago. He _did_ try to talk to her on multiple occasions, though, but she was good at giving people the cold shoulder. 

As for Potter…

Well, he was _quiet_ . And annoyingly polite, which she, in fact, did not like. It annoyed her the most because she knew _exactly_ why he was acting that way. One thing she hated the most? Was that he was acting like she suddenly burned her bridges with him. _Where there wasn’t a relationship in the first place_ , she thought, rather bitterly.

She still didn’t want to go to that quidditch match, and she was sick of all the quidditch talk. She didn’t want to be the spoilsport, though.

Which was why she was leaning on the heavy stone doors of the Great Hall, waiting for something, _something_ goddamn not related to quidditch. It’s not a very logical explanation, even herself had to admit. But she has come to learn that sometimes it’s better for her mental health to ignore logic. 

Then she saw him. Something she should’ve already expected, really, but there’s really not a logical explanation for an illogical decision.

James was passing by the corridor, already wearing his quidditch robes, chatting with his Gryffindor teammates. Several students covered with red and gold cheered at the sight of the team, and James grinned and saluted at them. Lily noticed that he didn’t have his usual snitch with him. 

Then he saw her. For a brief moment, their eyes met. And for another split second, it seemed like James had opened his mouth, and Lily half-expected him to make some effortless, _Potter-ish_ remark, like _“Wish me luck, Evans?”_

But he didn’t.

He didn’t make any form of acknowledgment, not even a slight nod.

And he walked straight past her.

_II. Yep, that’s me._

As one would expect, Gryffindor won the match, with James Potter dramatically saving a goal. So, naturally, the Gryffindors held the classic Yay-We-Won-The-Quidditch-Match Celebration Party in the common room. Sirius Black nicked the usual firewhiskey from Hogsmeade (as James lent him his invisibility cloak before the match), Peter Pettigrew brought the usual butterbeer from his stack, and 4th year Mary MacDonald blasted the usual music. 

Everything was the same… the same usual party, the same people. But something was different, and James couldn’t quite comprehend what it was. Something was clearly missing. Something that annoyed James the hell out of for a while. Something—wait, no, _someone_ James always thought of, out of his consciousness.

 _Lily_. 

It struck his mind as he watched Frank Longbottom and Alice Fortescue, both _clearly_ drunk out of their minds, kiss each other fiercely while other students booed and giggled.

This was _weird_ . This was— _should_ be a typical party. Everyone _shouldn’t_ be drunk at this point. Lily should be here, threatening Sirius about how she’s going to throw those firewhiskey bottles off the Gryffindor tower if he brought them again _one more time_ , putting a stop to Peter trying to give firsties butterbeer, being the anti-alcohol patrol on behalf of being a prefect. And James would always say, ‘ _Aw, but Evans, you of all other people should know that you actually_ can’t _get drunk from butterbee_ r’, and Lily would always glare in response.

 _Am_ I _drunk?_ He thought, as several more onlookers wolf-whistled and cheered as the couple embraced themselves more tightly.

“They should get married, y’know. Frank and Alice… uh...whatsit called... Longbottom. Right, Mar?”

That so… _lovingly_ and _sickeningly_ familiar voice seemed to cut James out of his current mind wanderings. He turned around to witness a very drunk Lily with red cheeks linking arms with and leaning on Marlene McKinnon in the corner of the room while laughing and pointing at Frank and Alice. Then the Three Broomsticks Effect rushed and soaked over James.

The Three Broomsticks Effect. It was one of the many terms the Marauders invented. This particular one was made when they were in their 3rd year, or more specifically, while they were on their first Hogsmeade trip. 

It’s subtle; you walk into Three Broomsticks, and there’s a rush of heat and chatter and laughter blasting at you, and it’s… _chaos_ . In a good way, of course (James would always add). But you’re looking for someone. Your group of friends, your date, your grandma… (“ _What_?” / “Just saying, you know.”) and when you find that person, all that chaos of noise in Three Broomsticks seems to melt away into the background

And that’s what James felt when he looked at Lily at that exact moment. _The Three Broomsticks Effect_. Suddenly the drinking games those 7th years were playing didn’t seem so fun anymore. Everything else other than Lily seemed to melt into the background.

Even though James was quite a distance away from Lily, he could see and hear Marlene groan and gently shove Lily away from her direction. 

“I’m leaving,” James heard Marlene say, “I’m— _hic_ —I’m gonna go find Amos and snog the hell out of him.”

“Suit yourself,” mumbled Lily, as she closed her eyes. 

However, when the prefect opened her eyes again, blinking and adjusting to the light, she noticed that the person next to her was not, in fact, Marlene, but no one other than James Potter.

She blinked once more and pointed at James. “Hey, it’s _you_ ,” she said, “James Potter.” 

James nodded, rather amused. “Yep, that’s me.”

Lily handed her empty cup to him, nudging towards the firewhiskey bottles close to her.

“You want more firewhiskey?”

She nodded.

However, James grabbed a nearby butterbeer bottle and filled her cup with it instead. Lily pouted and half-glared at him, but drank the whole thing anyway. James grinned a little as he watched her drink.

The redhead sighed, a bit dramatically, as James would recall, and leaned on his shoulder. James thought he might have a heart attack.

"James..." said Lily, barely maintaining her eyes open, "we're friends, right?"

James's heart skipped a beat the instant she said his name. _Dammit._ He hesitated for a moment and replied: "If you say so."

Lily completely closed her eyes this time, her speech slurring as she spoke. "You're a complete idiot and a coward, James Potter."

Then she fell asleep, just like that.

James looked down at her for a while, still not entirely processing everything, as he was drunk as well. He caught a loose strand of dark red hair and tucked it behind her ears. James smiled. _Merlin, she was so pretty_. For a bit of time, it seemed like everything was slowing down, except for Lily and himself. He wished he could take this moment, stretch it out a bit, and savor it as long as he wanted to. 

Nevertheless, he gently picked her up, careful to not wake her, and quietly sauntered to the fireplace. Then he placed her down on the best sofa in the common room. The only sober individual in the party, Remus, met James's eye as James glanced around the room. Remus nodded, went up to the boys' dormitory, and came back a few minutes later holding a blanket. The Quidditch Captain mouthed ‘ _thank you_ ’ and softly covered her sleeping form with the blanket. Then he sat down on a nearby chair.

He needed to sort this out.

Was this… how she actually felt like? Does she really want to be friends with him? After all the drama that happened barely a month ago?

Was Lily unsure? Of this indescribable, yeah-we’re-not-really-friends relationship? Hell, they were more close to _enemies_ at this point.

...Was _he_ unsure?

He still had feelings for her, of course. Like he always had. But he wasn’t willing to wait _forever_ . Well, a man has _some_ pride. And he never expected him to be even friends with Lily after… all that happened. Besides, she seemed to be totally fine with being enemies with him. 

Or so he thought. 

_III.The Next Morning_

When Lily woke up the next morning, she was not in her comfortable bed sheets, nor she was even _in_ her dormitory. 

It was safe to say she was positively _horrified_ when the first thing she saw when she woke up was a mess of lifeless bodies... Er, drunk teenagers. 

Oh, for the love of _God_ , why, why, _why_ , did she choose to drink yesterday? She knew better to not drink alcohol, seeing how the first time she had firewhiskey, which was a few months ago, ended up being quite a disaster. 

Frustrated and angry at herself, she stood up, not noticing the piece of cloth that was on her, quickly combed her hair with her fingers, and started to clean up the mess of empty bottles and red-and-gold scarfs. The redhead also did not notice that James Potter, nearside of her, was fully awake.

“Hey,” said James, tapping on Lily’s right shoulder. She quickly looked behind on her right to see who it was, but no one was there. Confused, she looked around to see James on her left side; he was just messing with her. 

“Hi,” she greeted and gave him something like a mixture of a smile and a grimace.

James handed her a hangover chaser and asked her if she remembered anything from yesterday.

Lily felt like she was rather put in the spot. “Er… the thing is, I don’t,” she replied. “I mean, I _did_ ask Marlene if she knows anything, but Amos Diggory… uh… nevermind,” stuttered Lily. Merlin, she didn’t know hangover was _this_ bad. “It was my first time drinking that much, y’know.” Then, reluctantly, she added: “Did I—um— _say_ , anything?”

James hesitated for a brief moment, but eventually, he said, “Nope.”

She nodded and went on her way, and James did too, but Lily stopped mid-way.

“Potter?”

James turned around at the mention of his surname. “Yeah?”

“Happy Easter.”

He blinked, but it seemed like it was authentic. 

“Thanks,” he replied and bowed his head a little. “You too.”

( _Easter_ , 1976)

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, I hope you all like my first one-shot! Or… my first ‘published’ fanfiction, if you will. Lol.
> 
> P.S. I’m on tumblr @seulgina 
> 
> \-- Gina


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